520 fence adjustment

wlhayesmfs · Post by **wlhayesmfs** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:33 pm

On the 520 I just got the extention table has been dropped and the corner of the rails are bent. The manual with the saw does not have complete information on adjusting the 520 rail or fence. Does anyone know where I can find this so I can make the adjustments and get this turned up and ready to use. I have followed several talks stating the upgrade came with alignment gauges or something like that but I am not sure if anything like that is in these boxes I got with this unit. Any help would be great. I am trying to get information on the jointech saw train for the 520 but have not heard back from then yet. Does anyone have this information either in case they don't get back to me on that.
As soon as I get all of this set up I will let you know how I am doing on this. I am excited to try the 520 over my 510 and expecially the saw train.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:10 am

First off you may need these:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/prod ... adePkg.pdf

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/prod ... pgrade.pdf

Those are the official documents that rel;ate to the 520 upgrade and the associated rail system. The official alignment procedure works well but I am not a conformist. I rather do it my way if I can. The following thread discusses how I use the alignment gauge to install/align my rails to the table top.

http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... ment+gauge

The part number for the alignment gauge is 521097 but you better check with customer service; I don't know if that is two pieces (gauges) or just one. Two are required.

wlhayesmfs · Post by **wlhayesmfs** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 9:25 am

Dusty thanks, that helps a lot, I hope today with all the rain I will just have time in the shop to really start looking closer at the 520 set and and do some regular maintainance on it. Then I can see how bad the extention table is off. I notice the rear lock on the fence was not fitting correctly when I was trying to lock it down and then saw it was bent down a little.
Thanks for the sites and information. Will let you know how it goes.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:50 am

wlhayesmfs wrote:Dusty thanks, that helps a lot, I hope today with all the rain I will just have time in the shop to really start looking closer at the 520 set and and do some regular maintainance on it. Then I can see how bad the extention table is off. I notice the rear lock on the fence was not fitting correctly when I was trying to lock it down and then saw it was bent down a little.
Thanks for the sites and information. Will let you know how it goes.

Bill, as an fyi, my Jointech also came with setup blocks for the 520 rails. The Jointech version was made out of mdf. You could probably make up a set yourself if you can mill a piece of wood to specified thickness and tack it to a piece of plywood. The top of the 520 rail sits 13/32" below the surface of the table top.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:14 am

I am just throwing this out for discussion:

I don't believe the actual dimension of the alignment jig is actually critical. I believe the purpose is to get the relationship between the top of the rail and the main table work surface consistent across the entire table (main and extensions) system.

If the rail is too low (with respect to the table surface) there might become a problem in mounting the rip fence.

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 8:41 pm

wlhayesmfs wrote:On the 520 I just got the extention table has been dropped and the corner of the rails are bent. The manual with the saw does not have complete information on adjusting the 520 rail or fence. Does anyone know where I can find this so I can make the adjustments and get this turned up and ready to use. I have followed several talks stating the upgrade came with alignment gauges or ...

Be aware that not all table systems need an alignment gauge of any sort for the 520 rails. For ex.: my MarkV, bought as a 500 by me from SS, upgraded by me from SS to 510, and eventually upgraded to 520-- the new rails went on without any alignment even possible, and the guages or alignment jigs didn't even fit.
So if your jig or gauges don't seem to work, you may NOT need new glasses or a better year of skotch.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 7:24 am

keakap wrote:Be aware that not all table systems need an alignment gauge of any sort for the 520 rails. For ex.: my MarkV, bought as a 500 by me from SS, upgraded by me from SS to 510, and eventually upgraded to 520-- the new rails went on without any alignment even possible, and the guages or alignment jigs didn't even fit.
So if your jig or gauges don't seem to work, you may NOT need new glasses or a better year of skotch.

Rail alignment is ALWAYS possible. One may need to do undocumented things to make it possible but it is possible.

Align the rails. What does that means. I think it means, attach the rail so that it is a consistent distance below the plane of the main table. The bolting method allows for some slop, use it to set the rail height. It there is not enough slop (something is likely installed wrong) create the slop by drilling out the holes or using smaller diameter bolts.

The edge of the rail should (must) be a straight line and should be perpendicular to the plane of the blade. Shims can be used to accomplish this if needed.

FACE IT. The Mark V is like an Erector Set. You can put it together in many different formats with the parts provided or you can supply some of your own parts to do things not contained in the manual. Like an Erector Set, it can hurt you. Be careful.

If you never played with an Erector Set...I sympathize.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 10:35 am

dusty wrote:If you never played with an Erector Set...I sympathize.

I had an Erector set... Lincoln logs and Tinker-toys. My mother used to dispair of my disassembling "everything" in the house to see how it worked.

By age six or seven I had wooden Velveeta cheese boxes (shows how old I am) lined up full of parts of old wind-up alarm clocks and defunct kitchen appliances. I had my own tool box by then which was an old salesman's case much like a small suitcase but with dividers. I had a hammer, screwdriver, handsaw, small square, block plane and one of those crank hand-drills that like to eat a child's fingers in the gears. None of those sets above were the large ones, we didn't have the money or a big enough house. One of the things I always wanted but didn't have was the brick building sets.
My train set was a windup one. I still have it and it still works. It only had one oval track. Maybe watching it is the reason that I spend so much time going around in circles today...

ryanbp01 · Post by **ryanbp01** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:12 pm

Never had an erector set.

Did have a Kenner Girder and panel building set, though:) Loved the ability to build bridges and skyscrapers!!
BPR

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:52 pm

robinson46176 wrote:I had an Erector set... Lincoln logs and Tinker-toys. My mother used to dispair of my disassembling "everything" in the house to see how it worked. By age six or seven I had wooden Velveeta cheese boxes (shows how old I am) lined up full of parts of old wind-up alarm clocks and defunct kitchen appliances. I had my own tool box by then which was an old salesman's case much like a small suitcase but with dividers. I had a hammer, screwdriver, handsaw, small square, block plane and one of those crank hand-drills that like to eat a child's fingers in the gears. None of those sets above were the large ones, we didn't have the money or a big enough house. One of the things I always wanted but didn't have was the brick building sets.
My train set was a windup one. I still have it and it still works. It only had one oval track. Maybe watching it is the reason that I spend so much time going around in circles today...

Farmer, you have been blessed to have so many toys/tools in your earlier years. Of course, you are doing quite well with toys/tools even now. My hammers was different weight rocks for my earlier years. Easy to replace if they broke. So now, I too have many toys/tools and some time to play with them. I am living my childhood dreams now.